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Teenager arrested over alleged Spanish sex assault
Family protest innocence of former Wootton Upper School pupil Stefan Beal.
A teenager originally from Bedfordshire has been arrested by police in Spain following an alleged sexual assault on a 77-year-old woman.
Stefan Beal, 19, was arrested on January 27 in Montefrio, Granada, and is still in police custody after a Spanish judge refused an application for bail.
The former Wootton Upper School pupil has apparently told police he cannot remember where he was at the time of the attack, said to have taken place earlier that day, because he was drunk.
The teenager, who moved to Spain from Cranfield with his family four years ago, had been drinking at a concert in the town with friends.
Mr Beal's parents, Mark and Fiona, are convinced their son is innocent and feel Spanish police have not done enough to investigate the attack.
Mark Beal said: "The evidence against our son is his mobile phone, which was found at the scene, and two shirt buttons.
"The police have done no other investigation. The police have taken no fingerprints in the victim's flat or on the route that access was supposed to have been gained, the second-floor balcony."
Mr Beal is currently being held at Albolote prison near Granada. He was a pupil at Cranfield Lower School, Holywell School and played for Cranfield Colts Football Club.
The teenager's younger sister Kyrie, 18, and brother Scott, 14, also live in Spain at the family's olive farm, while his grandparents Colin and Glenis Beal and his uncle Tony Beal still live in Cranfield.
Stefan is said to have been experiencing flashbacks, and the family's theory is that he was mugged, possibly by Spanish gypsies.
Mark Beal said: "The alleged victim in her statement does not know how entry was gained at all; all the doors and windows were locked and have not been forced.
"They have taken no DNA from either the alleged victim or our son. Even though the victim turned the light on after the incident, she describes the attacker as medium height with blond hair and speaking with a Spanish accent.
"Our son is 6ft 3ins tall and has dark hair with a small amount of blond streaks and, although he can speak Spanish, would not be classed so.
"They have not interviewed the people he was with at the concert in town, who have told us Stefan didn't leave until 5.45am, when the incident took place before then."
The British consulate in Malaga has appointed a lawyer to represent the teenager.
Mr Beal's father added: "My son has never been in trouble with the police in the UK or Spain. Three months after he was arrested our son is still in prison, no bail, no date for a court case, no nothing.
"The whole of the town know Stefan didn't do it and believe he is innocent."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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